Bar handling apparatus

ABSTRACT

Apparatus is provided for transferring heated metal bars from a pickup station to rolling and discharge stations in succession, the stations being spaced apart uniformly. A leading gripper and a trailing gripper are movable forward together from a first position to a second position in which the trailing gripper takes the place formerly occupied by the leading gripper. The grippers are lowered at the first position to grip a pair of underlying bars at the pickup and rolling stations, after which the grippers are raised with the bars, moved to the second position and lowered, released from the gripped bars to deposit them at the rolling and discharge stations, and then raised and returned to the first position to repeat the cycle.

United States Patent Krause Feb. 11, 1975 BAR HANDLING APPARATUS Primary Examiner-Robert J. Spar [76] Inventor: Richard Krause, 1503 Highland Assislan! Eraminer-(ieorge F. Abraham New Custh Pu. 16ml Attorney. Agent. or F1rmBrown, Murray, Flick & Peckham [22] Filed: Sept. 6, 1973 [57] ABSTRACT [21} Appl. No.1 394,638

Apparatus is provided for transferring heated metal bars from a pickup station to rolling and discharge sta- 52 11.5. C1. 214/1 BB, 214/658 ions in Succession, the Stations being Spaced 1 511 Int. Cl. B66c 1/62 uniformly- A leading gripper and a trailing gripper are [58] Field of Search .1 214/1 BB, 6 s, 658 movable forward together from first Position a I second position in which the trailing gripper takes the place formerly occupied by the leading gripper. The [56] References Cited grippers are lowered at the first position to grip a pair UNITED STATES NT of underlying bars at the pickup and rolling stations, 1935 225 111/1935 Smith 214/1 BB after which the grippers raised with the hats 1:993:754 3/1935 Smith 214/1 BB moved to the Second Position and lowered. released 5.1135715 5/1962 Lamb 214/65 from the gripped bars to deposit them at the rolling 1647,1190 3/l972 Suzuki 214/1 BB and discharge stations, and then raised and returned to the first position to repeat the cycle.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures PMENTED 5 SHEEI 2 [IF 3 PATENTEB FEB] 1 i975 SHEEI 30F 3 BAR HANDLING APPARATUS Rolling mills are used in which heated steel bars are tapered to form them into vehicle leaf springs. With some mills a bar is loaded onto an anvil in front ofa mill and the anvil carries the bar through the mill and returns it. The rolled bar then is removed from the anvil and an unrolled bar placed on the anvil. This has generally been done manually by men who pick up the bars as they leave a heating furnace and, after rolling, place the bars on a discharge conveyor. Of course, this is a relatively slow process and requires considerable labor.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide bar handling apparatus which will transfer bars from a heating furnace to a rolling mill and then transfer rolled bars from the mill to a discharge conveyor, and which will do this mechanically and rapidly, regardless of the width of the bars.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a plan view with parts broken away;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged combined end view and vertical section taken on the line ll-Il of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of one of the two barcentering units; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged side view as seen from the right hand side of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings, in front of a rolling mill, such as a bar tapering mill as shown in Pat. application Ser. No. 366,423, filed June 4, 1973 by John S. Miller or in Frank R. Krause patent, there is a rectangular frame I mounted on the upper ends of a pair of corner columns 2 and on a pair of brackets 3 secured to corner posts 4 that may be separate posts or form one end of the mill housing. Preferably, the frame is located in such a position that the anvil 5 on the traveling anvil support 6 of the mill is located beneath about the center of the frame when the anvil is in its outermost position as shown.

Secured to the bottoms of the opposite sides of the rectangular frame is a top plate 8 that supports beneath it a pair of parallel horizontal tracks 9. The ends of the tracks project from the opposite sides of the frame and support a carriage that can move lengthwise of the tracks. The carriage body is formed from parallel side members 10 connected by transverse beams 11 and 12. Projecting from the outer sides of the side members are rollers 13 that travel on the tracks. Midway between their ends the side members may also be provided with rollers 14 that engage the track surfaces above them to prevent any vertical movement of the carriage. Side movement of the carriage is prevented by horizontal rollers 15 attached to the bottom of the carriage side members and engaging the adjacent vertical surfaces of the tracks.

To move the carriage back and forth along the tracks between its two extreme positions, called its first and second positions herein, a fluid pressure cylinder 17 is supported by the rectangular frame 1 above the carriage in its first position. A piston in the cylinder has a piston rod 18 that extends out of the inner end of the cylinder and that is connected to a bracket 19 mounted on the underlying cross 'beam 11 of the carriage. The carriage supports horizontally spaced grippers 20 and 21 near its opposite ends.

In the first position of the carriage the inner or leading gripper 20 is located above the outer position of the anvil, which is referred to herein as the rolling station because it is from that point that the anvil carries a heated bar into the mill. The trailing gripper 21 at the outer end of the carriage in its first position is located above a pickup station, to which heated bars 22 are delivered in succession from a furnace 23. The stroke of the piston in the cylinder is such that when the carriage is moved to its second position the trailing gripper will occupy the central position formerly occupied by the leading gripper, and the latter will be located in the dotted line position of FIG. 2 above a bar discharge station, which may be an endless conveyor 24, skids or other suitable means for receiving rolled bars so that they can be carried away. The three stations; namely, the pickup station, the rolling station and the discharge station, are spaced apart uniformly.

The grippers preferably grip only the central portions of the bars. Each gripper may include a pair of laterally spaced fixed jaws 26 extending downwardly from the bottom of a cross bar 27 that is supported centrally by the lower end of a piston rod 28 projecting from the lower end of a vertical fluid pressure cylinder 29. The cylinder is attached at its upper end to a cross member 30 supported by a pair of blocks 31 secured to the adjoining cross beam of the carriage. The blocks are above the ends of the cross bar and are provided with vertical bores in which guide rods 32 slide. The lower ends of the rods are secured to the opposite ends of cross bar 27 so that the rods guide the bar and the fixed jaws along a vertical path as the cross bar is moved down and up by the vertical cylinder.

Between the rods a yoke 34 is welded to the top of cross bar 27. This yoke extends upward and forward and supports the upper end ofa short fluid pressure cylinder 35, from the lower end of which a piston rod 36 extends downwardly for connection to a block 37 that joins the central portions of a pair of movable jaws 38. These jaws have forked inner ends that straddle the fixed jaws, to which they are pivotally connected on a horizontal axis. The outer ends of the movable jaws project downwardly. After a gripper is lowered by its cylinder 29 to move the lower ends of its fixed jaws down beside a bar located beneath it, the movable jaws are swung down by cylinder to clamp the bar against the fixed jaws as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 2. The gripper then can be raised with the bar. To deposit and release a bar this procedure is reversed. Usually both grippers will be moved down and up in unison, but there may be situations in which it is desirable to move one gripper down or up ahead of the other. Bars of different width can be accommodated by providing the fixed jaws with pads 39 of different thicknesses, which are detachably connected to the bodies of the fixed jaws by dovetail joints.

Furnace 23 adjacent the pickup station heats the bars to a temperature suitable for rolling in the mill. The bars are pushed out of this furnace and slide down skids 40 onto an endless conveyor 41 that carries each bar in succession forward until it engages a stop 41 at the pickup station as shown in FIG. 2. Since it is desirable that each bar occupy a predetermined position on the anvil lengthwise thereof, means are provided for adjusting the bars lengthwise at the pickup station. For this purpose, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, fluid pressure cylinders 43 can be used that move slides 44 toward and away from each other for engaging the ends of a heated bar 22 between them. Each cylinder is rigidly mounted on a plate 45 provided at its inner end with guides 46 for the slide, which is attached to the outer end of the piston rod 47. The plate is adjustable longitudinally on a support 48 provided near its outer end with guides 49 for the plate. The adjustment is made by a horizontal screw 50 rotatably mounted in a bearing 51 extending upwardly from the outer end of support 48. The inner end ofthe screw is threaded in a nut 52 secured to plate 45. The outer end portion of the plate may be provided with a longitudinal slot 53 so that the plate can straddle bearing 51 if plate 45 is to be adjusted outwardly past the bearing.

To set up the bar-adjusting means, the two slides 44 are moved toward each other as far as cylinders 43 will permit. Then the adjusting screws are turned to back off plates 45 until the bar-engaging shoulders on the slides are spaced apart at least the length of a bar that is to be handled, but not much more than that length. At the same time it is made certain that the half way point between the slides will be in line with the center or other predetermined part of the anvil at the rolling station. The slides then are retracted by the cylinders to permit a heated bar to be moved to the pickup station between them. After the bar engages stop 42, the two slides are moved toward each other by their cylinders. Assuming that the bar is not centered properly, one of the slides will engage one end of the bar and push it lengthwise until the opposite end of the bar approximately engages the other slide. That centers the bar, whereupon the slides are retracted to free the bar.

Since only the central portion of a heated bar is gripped by the grippers, the ends of the bar may have a tendency to sag While the bar is being carried to and from the central rolling station. To prevent any such sagging, a pair of parallel skids 55 may be rigidly mounted between the pickup and rolling stations, and a second pair 56 mounted between the rolling and discharge stations as shown in FIG. 2. The second pair of skids 56 may not be so important as the first pair, because the bar may have cooled enough during rolling to prevent its ends from sagging.

With the apparatus disclosed herein, heated bars can be quickly and easily moved from one station to another without manual labor. The movements of the apparatus may be controlled by an operator, or they may be partly or completely automatic if such things as limit switches and electric eyes are used, for example. That is, the valves that control the fluid pressure cylinders can be operated directly or indirectly by the horizontal movements of the carriage and the vertical movements of the grippers, and even by the movements of the anvil.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, 1 have explained the principle of my invention and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. Bar handling apparatus for transferring heating metal bars from a pickup station to rolling and discharge stations in succession, said stations being spaced apart uniformly, said apparatus comprising a pair of horizontally spaced grippers, one of said grippers being a leading gripper and the other a trialing gripper, means for moving the grippers forward together from a first position to a second position in which the trailing gripper takes the place formerly occupied by the leading gripper, means for lowering the grippers at the first position so that they may grip the central portion of an underlying bar at the pickup and rolling stations respectively, means for raising the grippers with the bars gripped thereby, laterally spaced skids disposed between the first and second positions for supporting the ends of a heated bar carried by said trailing gripper to said second position, said grippers also being movable downwardly at said second position, means for releasing the lowered grippers from the gripped bars at the second position to deposit bars at the rolling and discharge stations respectively, and means for returning the released grippers to said first position after they have been raised at the second position.

2. Bar handling apparatus according to claim 1, including opposed slides for engaging the opposite ends of a heated bar beneath the location of said trailing gripper when in its first position, fluid pressure cylinders for moving said slides toward and away from each other, supports for said cylinders, and means for adjusting said supports toward and away from each other to move the cylinders.

3. Bar handling apparatus for transferring heated metal bars from a pickup station to rolling and discharge stations in succession, said stations being spaced apart uniformly, said apparatus comprising a pair of horizontally spaced grippers, one of said grippers being a leading gripper and the other a trailing gripper, means for moving the grippers forward together from a first position to a second position in which the trailing gripper takes the place formerly occupied by the leading gripper, each gripper including a horizontal supporting member, laterally spaced guide rods mounted on each supporting member and extending upwardly therefrom, means on the carriage above said supporting members provided with vertical passages therethrough receiving the rods, a fluid pressure cylinder operatively connected with each supporting member and the carriage for lowering and raising said members at each of said positions, a pair of laterally spaced fixed jaws extending downwardly from each supporting member, a movable jaw pivoted at one end on a horizontal axis to each fixed jaw, fluid pressure cylinders operatively connected to the movable jaws, means supporting said lastmentioned cylinders from said supporting members for swinging the free ends of the movable jaws toward the lowered fixed jaws at said first position to grip an underlying bar at the pickup and rolling stations, respectively, and for swinging the movable jaws away from the lowered fixed jaws at said second position to deposit bars at the rolling and discharge stations, respectively, and means for returning the released grippers to said first position after they have been raised at the second position. 

1. Bar handling apparatus for transferring heating metal bars from a pickup station to rolling and discharge stations in succession, said stations being spaced apart uniformly, said apparatus comprising a pair of horizontally spaced grippers, one of said grippers being a leading gripper and the other a trialing gripper, means for moving the grippers forward together from a first position to a second position in which the trailing gripper takes the place formerly occupied by the leading gripper, means for lowering the grippers at the first position so that they may grip the central portion of an underlying bar at the pickup and rolling stations respectively, meAns for raising the grippers with the bars gripped thereby, laterally spaced skids disposed between the first and second positions for supporting the ends of a heated bar carried by said trailing gripper to said second position, said grippers also being movable downwardly at said second position, means for releasing the lowered grippers from the gripped bars at the second position to deposit bars at the rolling and discharge stations respectively, and means for returning the released grippers to said first position after they have been raised at the second position.
 2. Bar handling apparatus according to claim 1, including opposed slides for engaging the opposite ends of a heated bar beneath the location of said trailing gripper when in its first position, fluid pressure cylinders for moving said slides toward and away from each other, supports for said cylinders, and means for adjusting said supports toward and away from each other to move the cylinders.
 3. Bar handling apparatus for transferring heated metal bars from a pickup station to rolling and discharge stations in succession, said stations being spaced apart uniformly, said apparatus comprising a pair of horizontally spaced grippers, one of said grippers being a leading gripper and the other a trailing gripper, means for moving the grippers forward together from a first position to a second position in which the trailing gripper takes the place formerly occupied by the leading gripper, each gripper including a horizontal supporting member, laterally spaced guide rods mounted on each supporting member and extending upwardly therefrom, means on the carriage above said supporting members provided with vertical passages therethrough receiving the rods, a fluid pressure cylinder operatively connected with each supporting member and the carriage for lowering and raising said members at each of said positions, a pair of laterally spaced fixed jaws extending downwardly from each supporting member, a movable jaw pivoted at one end on a horizontal axis to each fixed jaw, fluid pressure cylinders operatively connected to the movable jaws, means supporting said last-mentioned cylinders from said supporting members for swinging the free ends of the movable jaws toward the lowered fixed jaws at said first position to grip an underlying bar at the pickup and rolling stations, respectively, and for swinging the movable jaws away from the lowered fixed jaws at said second position to deposit bars at the rolling and discharge stations, respectively, and means for returning the released grippers to said first position after they have been raised at the second position. 